In fact, it would be injustice to even call it a Batman movie. It's really about Damian Wayne, the hot-tempered son of Batman, who we are introduced to in the opening of the film. Almost every aspect of Son of Batman is bad: the voice acting, the half-anime animation, and Damian himself has to be one of the most aggravating characters in the history of film. For me, Damian has always been the worst of the numerous Robins, but all this movie did was make me hate him worse. His morals represent the post-Lazarus Pit version of Jason Todd, slaughtering anyone he believes deserves to die, which puts him as low as they. That is by far the worst aspect of this pitiful excuse for an animated DC Universe movie: the titular Damian Wayne. He is cocky and way better at fighting than anyone his age should be, even in a fictional movie. Sure, he was raised and trained by the infamous Ra's al Ghul, but somehow, at the age ten, he appears to be able to even beat Ra's al Ghul. The dialogue is completely flat, delivered by even flatter characters. Although Damian is the most unlikeable character in the movie, Batman is almost as bad. I almost feel like a traitor saying these words, but, alas, it's true. I'm not even sure Batman was in the movie; perhaps the character that dressed like him and had the same alter ego was a Batman from an entirely different universe, albeit a plainer, less advanced one. Throughout the movie it seems Bruce Wayne/Batman constantly gets showed up by his bratty twenty-five years younger son. Batman lacks the detectiveness, the authority, the complete Batman aura, and most importantly, the right voice acting. At a couple of points in the movie, Batman has to ask Damian about locations to Ra's al Ghul's lair or something like that, leaving every Batman expert wondering, "Don't you have some sort of portable GPS thingy or something you can pull out of your pocket and locate in a couple of milliseconds?" Worse, he has to ask him right in front of a dude they're interrogating, which, if I were Batman, would be totally embarrassing. I'd like to think he was trying to instill confidence in Damian, or using some other sort of Batman strategy, but sadly, I believe that wasn't the case.
The movie starts with the League of Assassins being betrayed by Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke. Being one of the best DC Comics supervillains, I was expecting a much better portrayed version of him, but he was only another victim of bad voice acting. Ra's al Ghul fends off the attackers as best he can, deflecting all of their arrows with a sword, like a Jedi would deflect laser blasts with his lightsaber. That's the first sign that this movie is going to be completely ridiculous. Ra's continues to slice his way through Slade's followers, blood spurting everywhere on the screen with each victory. Then Slade shows up and, of course, wants to finish off Ra's himself, so he orders his men to stand back. He kills the legendary Ra's way too easily, and with the little life Ra's has in him he crawls his way to the Lazarus Pit to cheat death once again and resurrect himself. He dies before he reaches it. Damian shows up, and heartbroken to see his grandfather dead, he tries to drag him into the Lazarus Pit. Somehow his grandfather is way too heavy for this kid that can fend off adults seven times his size and strength. It doesn't matter, because his mother, Talia al Ghul, shows up and stops him. Talia is perhaps the best example of bad voice acting and bad dialogue, saying the most clichéd things in such an uninterested voice. I want to say that she would have been best left out of the movie, but regrettably, she is too important to be left out.
Filled with wrath and vengeance, Damian brutally cuts his way through the traitors, just like his grandfather, until he reaches Slade...and stabs him in the eye. How could a ten year old so easily defeat the man who murdered his grandfather, who taught him everything he new? Throughout the movie such questions perplexed me, and left me utterly annoyed. Slade Wilson leaves, having accomplished his goal, and vows they will meet again, so he can get revenge, although Damian hasn't yet achieved his revenge, so he's more than happy at the thought of meeting up with Slade again. Talia al Ghul decides it's time for Damian to meet his father, so they travel to Gotham, and she leaves him with Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. They reach the Batcave and Damian examines it with his critical, or more appropriately, spoiled eyes. "So this is the acclaimed Batcave. Smaller than I expected. But efficient." Alfred, who does the best voicing for this movie, immediately dislikes Damian, which is the exact same first impression I had. If you want to know exactly what was said, watch the movie yourself or look it up. I would recommend looking it up. Eventually, Damian goes hunting for Deathstroke and finds one of his employees, a hulking thug with Wolverine-like claws. One of my least favorite scenes in the movie ensues, Damian using a sword to block the thug's blows. How can he match the strength of someone seven times his size? He actually almost kills the thug, until Nightwing, the original Robin, interferes. He finally finds his match in Nightwing, who defeats him and ropes him up from a streetlight...but gaining cuts all over his body in the process. In the comics, Nightwing would have easily defeated Damian, but this movie insists upon making Damian as invincible as possible; a poor decision because it ruins the whole movie. I take that back. The movie was already ruined.
My Official Score: 53/100
The movie starts with the League of Assassins being betrayed by Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke. Being one of the best DC Comics supervillains, I was expecting a much better portrayed version of him, but he was only another victim of bad voice acting. Ra's al Ghul fends off the attackers as best he can, deflecting all of their arrows with a sword, like a Jedi would deflect laser blasts with his lightsaber. That's the first sign that this movie is going to be completely ridiculous. Ra's continues to slice his way through Slade's followers, blood spurting everywhere on the screen with each victory. Then Slade shows up and, of course, wants to finish off Ra's himself, so he orders his men to stand back. He kills the legendary Ra's way too easily, and with the little life Ra's has in him he crawls his way to the Lazarus Pit to cheat death once again and resurrect himself. He dies before he reaches it. Damian shows up, and heartbroken to see his grandfather dead, he tries to drag him into the Lazarus Pit. Somehow his grandfather is way too heavy for this kid that can fend off adults seven times his size and strength. It doesn't matter, because his mother, Talia al Ghul, shows up and stops him. Talia is perhaps the best example of bad voice acting and bad dialogue, saying the most clichéd things in such an uninterested voice. I want to say that she would have been best left out of the movie, but regrettably, she is too important to be left out.
Filled with wrath and vengeance, Damian brutally cuts his way through the traitors, just like his grandfather, until he reaches Slade...and stabs him in the eye. How could a ten year old so easily defeat the man who murdered his grandfather, who taught him everything he new? Throughout the movie such questions perplexed me, and left me utterly annoyed. Slade Wilson leaves, having accomplished his goal, and vows they will meet again, so he can get revenge, although Damian hasn't yet achieved his revenge, so he's more than happy at the thought of meeting up with Slade again. Talia al Ghul decides it's time for Damian to meet his father, so they travel to Gotham, and she leaves him with Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. They reach the Batcave and Damian examines it with his critical, or more appropriately, spoiled eyes. "So this is the acclaimed Batcave. Smaller than I expected. But efficient." Alfred, who does the best voicing for this movie, immediately dislikes Damian, which is the exact same first impression I had. If you want to know exactly what was said, watch the movie yourself or look it up. I would recommend looking it up. Eventually, Damian goes hunting for Deathstroke and finds one of his employees, a hulking thug with Wolverine-like claws. One of my least favorite scenes in the movie ensues, Damian using a sword to block the thug's blows. How can he match the strength of someone seven times his size? He actually almost kills the thug, until Nightwing, the original Robin, interferes. He finally finds his match in Nightwing, who defeats him and ropes him up from a streetlight...but gaining cuts all over his body in the process. In the comics, Nightwing would have easily defeated Damian, but this movie insists upon making Damian as invincible as possible; a poor decision because it ruins the whole movie. I take that back. The movie was already ruined.
My Official Score: 53/100